The health issues of the homeless and the homeless issues of the ill-health

In public policy planning and budgeting, the health issues and homeless issues tend to be interrelated and reinforced by each other, but this mutual causality is usually ignored in the existing literature. This paper provides an unbiased estimate of a structural equation model taking endogeneity into account. A questionnaire is designed based on the health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) framework and is given to 322 homeless individuals. Evidence shows that, without timely support, the homeless state and health state will fast deteriorate and reinforce each other. It is therefore arguable to broaden the definition of statutory homelessness, and the “preventative approach” can save, rather than increase, the public resources spent on the homeless.